Gravity at 1.018, check my recipe/math

Hey all,

I recently formulated my own Belgian Wit style recipe and used BeerSmith to assist me.

My estimated FG is 1.012 and I'm currently at 1.018 (1.050SG), but the beer has been in primary for quite some time. Since 2/15 (Roughly 20 days?). I just took the last measurement this morning so the readings are recent. There is some slight foam on the top still (very little spots), but most has fallen back into the beer now. The beer tastes great even green and flat as well.

The fermentation was insane, very active, lots of blowoff (used a blowoff tube). I'm going to check my gravity again in a day or two and see if it's just staying at 1.018 but was wondering if the more experienced folks on here had any advice.

Below is my recipe:
3LB Wheat DME (60min)
3.3LB Wheat LME (60min)
2oz Saaz (60min)
1oz Coriander seed (10min)
1oz Orange Peel (bitter) (1min)
1 vial of WLP400 (pitched directly, no starter)

Cheers!

extract recipes usually finish a little high. just do like your thinking and check your SG readings over the course of a few days.

have you calibrated your hydrometer (tested it with 60 degrees F water)? What temp are you reading your FG at?

What temperature has it been fermenting at? Possibly raising the temp could get the yeast back to doing what they do. Another things is perhaps there wasn't enough yeast due to just the one vial and the loss due to blowoff. Just some thoughts. It will probably turn out fine but be just a little more chewy.

alcibiades said:

have you calibrated your hydrometer (tested it with 60 degrees F water)? What temp are you reading your FG at?

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Reading just about 1.00000000 at 62F (this particular one is designed for 60f)

Catch-22 said:

What temperature has it been fermenting at? Possibly raising the temp could get the yeast back to doing what they do. Another things is perhaps there wasn't enough yeast due to just the one vial and the loss due to blowoff. Just some thoughts. It will probably turn out fine but be just a little more chewy.

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The closet I've been keeping it in is interior and it's winter in Maine, so it's been riding at right about 63-66f the entire time. I could open up the closet door to let a little more ambient warmth in, but I'm not sure if it's going to make much of a difference at this point in the game.

No doubt, it tastes just fine so far.

I usually like my belgians at around 66 for the first couple days then depending on the style, letting them ramp up. I would see if you could get it up to around 68-70 and see if you see any activity. Probably not but patience creates a tasty brew.

Remember also, if you do up the temp and see a little activity, it could be just off gassing due to the temp change. Either way, you are gaining lots of insight as to your particular brewing enviornment and each brew should be better than the last.


EDIT: I like my belgians to start at 68, (I was looking at your temp of 63-66 and mistyped)

Catch-22 said:

I usually like my belgians at around 66 for the first couple days then depending on the style, letting them ramp up. I would see if you could get it up to around 68-70 and see if you see any activity. Probably not but patience creates a tasty brew.

Remember also, if you do up the temp and see a little activity, it could be just off gassing due to the temp change. Either way, you are gaining lots of insight as to your particular brewing enviornment and each brew should be better than the last.


EDIT: I like my belgians to start at 68, (I was looking at your temp of 63-66 and mistyped)

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Good call. The sun is now out here and spring is coming so the interior is more like 70F, I'll pop open that closet door and see if the rise helps it out.

I've been intentionally trying to keep my fermentations on the low end of the scale specified for each yeast I've used. Even with the Belgians, I try to shy away from the hotter alcohols and the weird fruityness that can come from fermenting too warm. (From what I've read. I'm only 7-8 extract brews into my career. )

If you want to get it a little drier you could add like a .5-1lb of some sort of sugar. Honey wouldn't be a bad idea. That will get the yeast active again and it will drop you FG.

Wow, 100% wheat. Should be quite a head on it. 1.018 is pretty close to 1.012 really. Just figuring the meniscus is +/1 .002. Personally, I would move it to a secondary. Get it off the trub, and the agitation might wake the yeast up and get a few more points. Leave it for a week in the secondary then bottle it.